Retirement Planning

Whether your retirement is a few decades or a few months away, now is the time to prepare for your postcareer years. While you’re daydreaming of one day surfing the coast of Florida, why not surf the Net for some tips to help you save for retirement?

Retirement is really a numbers game: are you putting enough in the bank now so that you can live comfortably later? On the Web you can find an array of calculators to help you understand how what you put away now will work for you come retirement.

Online financial calculators can be handy tools, but only if you use the information you get from them wisely. Find out if the calculators have adjustable settings (such as for inflation, poor stock performance, or variable levels of contribution on your part) so you can understand how changing factors might affect your savings.

Money Central
on MSN.com has a useful retirement planner calculator. Enter a few details including your age, expected retirement age, life expectancy, current income, and current annual savings, and this calculator will give you an idea of how realistic your retirement expectations are.

CCH's
Financial Planning Toolkit calls itself "your personal financial adviser" and offers a planning guide, financial calculators, and tools for planning your future. It also highlights top financial news stories and allows you to search for help by topic with a clear table of contents.

CNNMoney.com
has a savings calculator that lets you enter information about your taxable accounts, your tax-deferred accounts, what your state and federal tax rates are, and even the expected rate of return on those accounts. In case you aren’t sure what numbers to fill in for some of the tax or return rates, CNNMoney.com provides helpful hints alongside the calculator.

The U.S. Social Security Administration
site has three different calculators to help you determine what your social security benefits will be. Choose a calculator depending on whether you want a very rough estimate of your benefits or a very detailed estimate. You’ll need to download the most detailed calculator this site offers, but other calculators can be used online.

Bankrate
has a 401(k) calculator that predicts the amount in your plan at retirement, by factoring in amount already saved, monthly salary, percent of salary contributed, percent of employer contribution, rate or return, and years left working.